The Hindu 04.03.2011
Major concessions in panchayat building rules
Many have been freed from procedural tangles
The provision in the Kerala Panchayat Building Rules exempting single
and multi-family residences from securing advance building permits in
urbanised and rural panchayats has extricated a large section of
applicants from the procedural tangles in civic bodies.
The best efforts of the government to simplify the
procedures in issuing building permits have not yet yielded the desired
results.
Even now, permit applications are being delayed and
rejected on flimsy grounds and the worst hit are those who avail
themselves of housing loans.
In this context, the decision to exempt not only single
family residences but also two-storied residential complexes housing
more than one family and with a built-up area up to 3,229 sq.ft has come
as a relief for a number of applicants, who were compelled to wait
indefinitely for the permit.
The latest rules, which came into force on February 17,
specify that 10 days before starting the construction, an applicant only
has to intimate the secretary of the civic body about the proposal to
construct the building in a prescribed form.
Even a sketch of the building is not mandatory. This
provision has helped to do away with the formalities like sketch
scrutiny and site inspection. The increasing instances of applicants
being made to wait indefinitely for site verification and rejection of
building plans citing minor violation of norms are reported to have
prompted the Local Administration Department to waive such formalities.
Inspection
After starting the construction, the officials concerned
can inspect the site to ensure that the norms are being observed. As
per the panchayat building rules, the urbanised panchayats have been
classified as category I and the rural grama panchayats, category II.
Well before the government decided to extend the Kerala
Municipal Building Rules to the panchayats for regulating construction
from June 6, 2007, about 182 panchayats adopted the rules by resolution
and enforced it on their own.
Over the years, the majority have acquired an urban
nature too. Hence, implementation of the new rules does not make much
change in the development pattern in these panchayats, sources said.
Two-storied buildings constructed for housing commercial
establishments, offices, restaurants, work sheds, livestock and poultry
farms and such others with a built-up area of 1,614 sq.ft. too will be
eligible for exemption from advance permit.
Small and medium enterprises and traditional industrial
units too will also benefit by this provision. As issuing of door
numbers has been mandated for those intimating the LSGIs, it cannot be
rejected on any grounds.
